Isobel Anstey, pictured at the Australian Junior Under-20 Championships, is one of 10 Victorians selected in the initial squad for the Gems. Picture: BASKETBALL VICTORIA

Victorian Under-20 Women head coach Dee Butler is also the head coach of the Australian Under-17 Gems and she is proud of the strong squad assembled with its flexibility and experience on the big stage.

“One of our main strengths in this squad is the depth of experience and exposure to international basketball,” Gems coach Dee Butler said. “We have a large number of athletes that have competed at Under-17 and Under-19 World Cups, at Oceania and Asia qualifying tournaments as well as those within the US college system.

“We also have elite athletes with the appropriate conditioning and athleticism needed to implement repeated defensive efforts so I’m hoping our defence can be a trademark of this group.”

The camp in May will allow the Gems to look at the impressive depth they have at each position while also beginning the implementation of the team’s structures and culture.

A final selection camp will then be held closer to the Under-19 World Cup in July while a couple of international practice games will finalise their preparations for the tournament.

They will face tough competition though in the form of Japan and South Korea who beat them during the Under-18 Asian Championships as well as the USA who have won seven gold medals at the tournament and defending Champions Russia.

“We are continually finding that the versatility of international players is increasing so we need to ensure we can cover that when selecting the team while also staying true to our own needs and style,” Butler said.

“Tournament play also presents different challenges so we have to ensure we factor that into our selection.

“This is an exciting time for this program and selection will be extremely difficult.

“Each athlete brings something different or unique to the squad so I’m looking forward to working with them and hopefully we can build towards a very successful tournament.”